Shadows of the Future
by Lt. Basil
Summary: Galen's been acting strange lately, and Juno, frustrated with his actions, decides to get to the bottom of it. She never would have guessed that things would've been so bad for him. Galen/Juno. Rated for a battered, traumatized Galen. And because I'm paranoid.


**A/N: My first Star Wars fic, so please be nice. I love "The Force Unleashed"! Though I haven't actually played the second game, yet… but I read the book. **

**Lots of references to the original Star Wars trilogy in this! 'Cause, c'mon, Galen's a Jedi; it only makes sense that he'd have weird force visions about the future, right? **

**Please review! Reviews make my day. They are very much appreciated!**

**Basil out.**

Futuristic Shadows

Kota was leaning back in the copilot's seat, his head tilted back as he snored – very, very loudly. Juno gritted her teeth, but chose to ignore the sound to the best of her ability (Kota could be rather scary when he was sleepy – once, he had hurled his lightsaber at Galen when the boy woke him up too suddenly… thank the Force it was sheathed). Instead, she chose to focus her attention on the Navi Computer. Senator Organa had called them to Alderaan for a meeting; she wasn't going to let anything keep them from getting there – especially Imperial Fighters. So she needed to make sure to keep her eyes on the sensors and _not _think about the fact that Galen had not come out of the back for approximately two standard days. He'd made a habit out of that lately, vanishing back there and not emerging for days or weeks at a time, never staying long when he did come out. Oftentimes, he'd come out covered in bruises and cuts, looking utterly exhausted – obviously, he was training too hard. She'd tried to coax him into telling her what was wrong several times, but he always pushed her away…

Well, so much for not thinking about him. Sighing in exasperation, Juno glumly adjusted the ship's course (which had shifted slightly the last time she'd used manual control – she hadn't noticed it in her musings) and scratched the back of her neck. Well, that was just great. Now she was going to be worrying about him all day, making it harder for her to focus on flying, making her discouraged about the whole stupid situation and rubbing her misery off on everyone else. She sighed, irritated – at herself, at Galen, and of course, at Kota for that infernal noise he was making; it was driving her nuts.

"PROXY?" she called over to the droid, who was rummaging around in the back of the cockpit in search of some tools, spare part, or something to that effect. He turned sharply, dipping his head.

"Yes, Captain Eclipse?"

"Could you take over the controls for a little while? There's… I need to check on something." She looked away.

PROXY agreed without missing a beat. "Certainly, Captain." Juno climbed out of the pilot's seat to make room for the droid. Once he had taken full control, she turned and exited the cockpit, making a beeline for the tiny training area in the back.

The moment she entered the training room, Juno's ears were bombarded with the sounds of blaster fire (from training droids), the hum of a lightsaber, and a stream of frustrated curses and grunts. Galen was in the corner, hacking away at the droids with his twin blue lightsabers, a fierce battle scowl twisting his face. A burst of telekinesis from his hand slammed several against the wall; he seized one with the Force, telekinetically hurling other droids at it as he did so. Sweat streamed down his face and into his eyes, mixing with blood from several blaster burns scattered all over his face. Irregular breaths wheezed out of his lungs, making Juno wince. Shaking her head, the pilot moved over to a console on the wall and typed a command onto the keypad. _He's really not going to like this…_

As soon as she pressed the ENTER key, the droids sputtered and wilted, those still on their feet collapsing into heaps. For a moment, Galen stood stock-still, staring numbly at the now-inanimate machines. Taking the opportunity, Juno put her hands on her hips and stated, "If you leave those wounds open like that, you'll get an infection." Slowly, Galen turned, anger gradually registering on his bloodied face. That, however, was not what Juno noticed. Her eyes were focused on the dark circles beneath his, his sunken cheeks, and his skeletal frame – his clothing was hanging off of him like a cloth sack…

Galen must have seen the alarm in her expression; he looked away quickly, refusing to meet her eyes. "Juno, what are you doing here?" He sounded angry, but there was some other emotion hiding beneath it… fear? Guilt?

"Galen, what's going on?" Juno was having difficulty keeping her voice steady. He still didn't answer her, instead choosing to sheath his dual lightsabers and tuck them safely into his belt. A glare was directed her way.

"So, do you have a good reason interrupting me in the middle of a training session?" His voice was harsh, annoyed, but Juno could tell that the emotions were at least partially forced.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." She walked up to him and looked him right in the eye – or tried to; he was still avoiding her gaze. Sighing, she reached up and turned his face towards hers, leaving him no choice but to look straight at her. "How long has it been since you last slept?" Galen flinched and glanced down at the ground. He didn't answer. Eyes hardening, Juno repeated, "Galen, _how long?"_

"Three standard days," he replied at last, his voice oddly quiet. Juno's eyes widened.

"_Three days? _It's a wonder you're not dead on your feet by now!"

"I need the extra practice," Galen replied shortly. "I can't let my skills get rusty – not when there's a war going on. Which is why you should let me get back to it."

"Have you been _training _all three days?" When he nodded, Juno's voice rose in anger and desperation. "Are you _trying _to work yourself to death?! I don't even know how you can still be standing after all of that!" A hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Galen… please. What's wrong?"

He shoved her away, turning his back to her. "I'm fine, Juno." Groaning in irritation, she grabbed his arm and turned him back to face her. Had he been in better physical condition, he could have escaped her grasp easily – but his exhaustion made it impossible to free himself from her grip. Which did not escape her notice.

"No. You're not 'fine', Galen. You think I haven't noticed now tired you've been lately?" She shook her head. "I'm not stupid, you know."

Alarm crossed Galen's face as those words. "I know you're not, that's not what I…" His voice trailed off. Squeezing his eyes shut and taking a deep breath through his nose, he stated, rather weakly, "Look, I… I don't want to talk about it."

Frowning, Juno looked up at him, slightly hurt. "Galen, do you trust me?"

He nodded without a second's hesitation. "With my life."

Gently, she reached up and touched his cheek. "Then please trust me with this. What you're doing to yourself… you'll die if you keep on this way."

Slowly, gradually, he let his shoulders relax, permitting his face to smooth out of its twisted, stressed expression. He leaned, down, pressing his forehead against hers, feeling soothed by the proximity. "The Force," he said at last. "It's been showing me things. Horrible things not far in the future, and I just… I can't…" Shaking his head, Galen pulled back, the stressed look overtaking his face again. At that point, he was panting again, and Juno couldn't help but feel immensely sorry for him. Everyone who knew him knew how much he hated opening up to other people – when he had served Darth Vadar, there had been no room for weakness, meaning that no one could ever see his pain. Even nearly a year and a half after he had abandoned the Empire and dropped his title of Starkiller, Galen still clung to that lesson, and despite her and Kota's attempts to free him from it, he had yet to shake it off.

"What's it showing you?" Juno spoke plainly, in a semi-normal tone – showing him pity tended to make him shut down on her, and she couldn't let that happen. She needed him to explain to her what was happening to him. Biting his lip, he sighed and closed his eyes again.

"A boy," he replied after a long while. "Maybe eighteen or nineteen years old. He's clinging to a pole suspended over a deep chasm – one that you'd find in an Imperial Star Destroyer. One of his hands is missing; it looks like a fresh wound, one caused by… a lightsaber." Wow, he really must have been out of it, if he was hesitating over that. Galen went on, "Vadar's there – I'm pretty sure that he's the one who cut kid's hand off, and he's got his saber pointed at him. He says something – I don't know what – and the boy just freezes. And then… there's a man, trapped in a metal case… Alderaan destroyed… the temple ransacked… whole towns on Tatooine, razed to the ground… an old man, a _Jedi, _being murdered by Vadar… Imperial Walkers wrecking an ice planet… Every time I go to sleep, I see them. And I don't know what I can do about it, so… I just…"

"So you've kept yourself busy to keep yourself from thinking about the visions." Juno nodded in understanding. Galen looked at her again, seeming a thousand years old – so weary and burdened by past events of his life, and of his uncertain future; carrying more pain than anyone should ever have to deal with. His eyes suggested that he had seen too much of the universe, learned too much about it, for someone as young as him. It broke her heart to see him like that… so vulnerable – especially since this side of him didn't show through much. She wished that she could fix it, cure him of the pain, but of course, some wounds just couldn't completely heal, no matter how much medicine you put on them. Still… she wanted to do her best to lessen the ache that they caused him.

Making a decision, Juno wrapped her arms around him gently. Inhaling sharply, Galen buried his face into her hair, unknowingly pulling her closer in a search for comfort. In that moment, the last of his tension dissolved, and he finally relaxed. He knew that she was right about his staying up; he was worn out, barely clinging to consciousness, and he really couldn't remember the last time he'd changed or bathed – he reeked so badly that he could smell it himself. He also hadn't shaved in forever; his face was covered in dark stubble, and his normally buzzed head had grown a longish mop of dark brown hair.

"Galen, you need to sleep," Juno whispered in his ear. She felt him tense up again, so she quickly added, "If you want, I can give you a small sedative to help keep the dreams away, but you can't stay up for another hour. You know that."

Grunting, he nodded. "All right." He pulled away slightly, allowing her to lend him her shoulder and help him hobble out of the training area, down the short hallway, and into the _Rogue Shadow's _tiny, one-man quarters. After helping him down onto the bed and pulling the covers on top of him, Juno excused herself to go fetch the sedative from the first aid cabinet, along with several antibiotics and bandages for Galen's wounds. Neither PROXY nor Kota responded to her return to the cockpit; the general was still snoring away, and the droid remained engrossed in the navigation screen. So Juno retrieved the equipment with no trouble and returned to Galen's room after only about five minutes.

Galen was lying on his side, staring at the wall opposite of the door (and consequently, her). If it hadn't been for his stiff posture, Juno would have thought that she nodded off already – obviously, the young Jedi was desperate to avoid the dreams as long as possible.

At the sound of her approach, he turned to look at her. His eyes wandered to the bandages in her hands, and he frowned. "Juno, I don't need…"

"It's not up for discussion," she replied, moving to sit down beside his lounging form on the bed. "I don't want you getting sick – not when you're already in this condition. Besides," she added, taking out a dosage vial and pouring some of the sedative into it and swishing it around, "you'll be asleep. You won't even feel it. Sit up." He did, groaning as he forced his sore muscles to shift himself into an upright position. The vial was pressed against his lips a moment later, and he obediently drank as she coaxed the rim partway into his mouth. Once the medicine had all been downed, he lay down again, already feeling the depressive effects of the drug. In only a few minutes, he was sleeping soundly, his head lolled to the side while he snored quietly. Juno stared at him for a moment, smiling softly. This was the first time she'd ever seen him asleep, and somehow, it made her feel… strong. Like it was somehow her duty to protect him like he protected her. She kind of… liked that feeling.

Shaking her head, Juno set to work on treating his wounds.

**So, did I write them okay? I stayed up 'til eleven typing this up… I'm pooped. I hope it turned out all right (I think it did, but who knows? I'm half-asleep; maybe I missed something).**

**I already said that I'm not that great at writing romance, but I think that this turned out okay, actually.**

**Please review! Reviews make me so happy!**


End file.
